April 30, 2006

What is Gauss? According to whatis.com is: “The gauss (symbolized G) is the centimeter-gram-second (cgs) unit of magnetic flux density. A flux density of 1 G represents one maxwell per centimeter squared (1 Mx ­ cm-2). The gauss was named for the German scientist Karl Friedrich Gauss.” How can this be fun? Watch the videos below and you will soon see! Check out FastMHz for more project details.

“A Gauss Gun is a weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of combusion or air pressure. The basic concept is to dump a ton of energy into a coil as fast as possible, generating a strong magnetic field to “suck” the projectile through the coil. The trick is to design your coil properly so that the coil is off by time the projectile leaves it, or you end up with a giant, non exciting solenoid. The cheapest way for the hobbiest is to use large capacitors and a large circuit breaker for a switch. If you have some money, Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs) are the way to go, allowing less energy to be wasted during switching.”